Hurry Up and Wait
by Darke Angelus
Summary: After being rushed into service, Kotetsu & Barnaby are forced to wait on the sidelines until they get the order to move in and make an arrest. The HeroTV control room hears the hilarious exchange between the two as they try to kill the time. -One shot-


Author's Note: "Tiger & Bunny" started in April 2011 and, on September 17, just completed its first (and hopefully not only) season with 25 incredible episodes. I highly recommend this show to all of my fans. All subbed episodes are available if you Google the title. It's worth it for those stuck in a rut and maybe looking for something new and unique. Cheers!

(YesAsia description) _"Tiger & Bunny_ takes place in a futuristic world where people with superpowers co-exist with normal citizens, with some even becoming superheroes. These heroes, called NEXT, are featured on a reality television series, wearing advertisements for corporations, and compete against one another to accumulate points. The world is seen through the eyes of Kotetsu "Wild Tiger" Kaburagi, a veteran superhero, and Barnaby Brooks Jr., a young rookie that becomes Tiger's reluctant new partner. With conflicting values stemming from their generation gap, the two often disagree on how superheroes should act."

* * *

><p>Wild Tiger was on a roll.<p>

"_-and another thing, I'd like to know just who sets the parking standards in this city. If I pull over to the curb in the Bronze stage and run in for a coffee, the traffic cop might write me up for a ten dollar ticket. It's still an expensive coffee when you stop and think about it but fine, okay. You pay it and move on. You pull that stunt on the Gold stage it's two hundred bucks! I've never seen such a bunch of stuck up snobs in my life."_

"_I happen to live on the Gold stage."_

"_There's a shocker." _

"Man, Tiger's in rare form this morning," commented Cain Morris from the HeroTV control room. He was trying his best to keep a straight face as he monitored the exchange. It was simple backchat between the two Apollon Media stars as they waited for the call to move in to a possible hostage taking. None of this was being broadcast live, although the director liked to put some of the dialogues on a private tape and listen to them later. It was comedy gold, especially when Kotetsu "Wild Tiger" Kaburagi was riled up, which was right now. _"-it isn't just the parking, either. Groceries, clothes, heck, even a Big Mac goes for double the price up there. Now down in my neighborhood, I can go around the corner, buy a six pack of Legend beer, a foot-long sub, and some chips and only be out about twenty-"_

Barnaby engaged his private comm and said in an exasperated voice, _"Can't any of you tell him to be quiet?"_

"You woke him up, you deal with him," Agnes Joubert, the executive producer, said and rudely shut him off. Her eyes were fixated on her BlackBerry as she received data from the police force called to a collection agency where a disgruntled client was said to be holding the staff hostage. Until she had proof that lives were in actual danger, Tiger and his partner, Barnaby Brooks Jr., were on standby. Once she received confirmation, the aerial cameras would go into position, the news feed would cut to a live broadcast, and the duo could move in and make the arrest while their audience, all citizens of SternBild city, watched as it happened.

The pair were currently displayed on one of the control room's front monitors, seen lounging back on their motorcycles in their battle gear, and each pointedly trying to ignore the other. Barnaby, for all of his twenty-four years, was the studious, mature one of the pair. He was emotionally self-contained and fixated on his goal to rise in the Hero standings and more than content to wait things out for however long it took before being called into action. It was his nature to strategize procedure and contemplate his actions even before making a single move, and he liked peace and quiet to do it.

Tiger was a veteran Hero who was thirteen years older and deeply set in his ways. He had been used to working alone on his own peculiar set of rules until his contract had been taken over by the company that also employed Barnaby. In less than 24 hours, he found himself working for a strict new boss, given a new ultra high-tech costume, and forced to become part of an unwanted partnership. He and Barnaby had only worked together about couple of weeks so far and to say their relationship was strained was an understatement. Tiger, to his credit, was doggedly trying to befriend his new associate but Barnaby had extremely high standards and constantly rebuffed the older man's efforts. Under normal circumstances, Kotetsu would simply brush off the contempt with his banal humor. He was relatively easy-going and not one for direct conflict unless it was part of the job.

All bets were off this morning.

For one thing, Tiger wasn't a morning person. His former boss had given him an incredible amount of latitude in their working relationship and rolling into work in the afternoons had simply been a matter of course. He was also a moderately heavy drinker, so the former arrangement had worked out perfectly for his personal life. This morning he had been called into work at 5 a.m., rushed into his battle gear, and then forced to wait on the sidelines while the threat was being analyzed if it was genuine. He hadn't had time for his morning coffee, he was hung-over, and resented this bullshit "hurry up and wait" approach to justice. If he'd had his way, he would have busted through the building's front door by now and simply approached the suspect in question and asked him point-blank what his problem was. If the threat turned out to be benign, he probably would have taken the guy out for breakfast. According to Agnes that didn't make for good ratings so he tried to relax in the sidecar connected to Barnaby's motorcycle and catch a nap. Barnaby soon woke him up, criticizing him for being unprofessional. From that point on, Tiger hasn't shut up.

"_You know what we're going to find when we get called in, don't you? Some poor sap who lost his house to the recession and is probably living in his car because the bank gave him a mortgage he couldn't afford in the first place."_

"_Then it's his fault for having taken it out."_ Barnaby, as usual, tried to be the voice of reason. Even on subjects he knew absolutely nothing about. It drove Tiger nuts.

"_You don't get it. The banks push these ridiculous interest rates on suckers who think they're getting a bargain and then pull the rug out when things get tight. Then they sic the collection guys on them to pay up."_

"_You can't have sympathy for a criminal who's too lazy to pay his bills."_

"_That's not what I'm saying." _There was an unusually hard edge to Tiger's voice. _"I just mean we'd be doing more good if we arrested the sharks who probably hounded this guy day and night until he just went crazy. Those collection guys are ruthless and unethical and they get away with it every single day. It isn't right."_

"_It sounds as though you're speaking from experience."_

Tiger lapsed into uncharacteristic silence at that and finally muttered, "_It's a building I wouldn't mind wrecking, that's for sure."_ Tiger's reputation for collateral damage while on the job was legendary. He was known to viewers as "The Crusher for Justice."

Alarmed, Agnes quickly leaned over to the mike and fingered the button. "There will be none of that nonsense, Tiger. You hear me?"

"_Oi, Agnes-san, I'm just saying that anything can happen in the line of duty, that's all,"_ the Hero responded. It sounded like he was smiling.

"That man . . . " she fretted, gritting her teeth.

Casting her boss a sidelong glance, Mary Rose, the switcher, wondered why there always seemed to be a palatable degree of tension between her and Tiger. Agnes was new to HeroTV and determined to make a name for herself in the industry. She was domineering, assertive, and believed that her way was the only way of doing things. It's possible she resented Kotetsu's habit of going into action before commercial breaks were over and messing up a situation before it was perfectly set up to broadcast. Perhaps it was the fact that Tiger didn't care for any of the gimmicks that performing for HeroTV demanded (he simply just wanted to help people) so he tended to ignore her whenever it was convenient.

"_I'll ensure that he toes the line, Agnes,"_ Barnaby said.

"_You're not my keeper, Bunny."_

Barnaby particularly resented that nickname that stemmed from the decorative adornments to his helmet Kotetsu thought looked like rabbit ears. _"Somebody has to be, Old Man."_

"_Hey, I did perfectly fine for the ten years I worked alone before being paired up with you."_

"_Sure you did. Right up until I had to save you from that fall the first time we met. I got 100 points for that rescue. Did I ever thank you for that?"_

"_No, you didn't. Why don't you lean in a little closer and do it right now?"_

"For the love of God, Barnaby, don't get him worked up!" Agnes shouted into the younger man's comm. "If he storms off, I swear you'll be footing the bill for anything he breaks."

There was a long period of silence as Barnaby apparently mulled it over, leaving the three in the broadcast booth to look at one another and shake their heads in collective dismay. The only thing Tiger and Bunny had in common, aside from their power, was their sheer stubbornness. In many ways Barnaby was even worse because he had the burden of youth over experience and that translated into arrogance because he thought that everything he did was right. He finally sighed and blurted out, _"Books."_

"_Huh?"_

As if speaking to a five year-old child, Barnaby spoke slowly,_ "I am attempting to make conversation to help pass the time. What do you like to read?"_

_"You first," _came the grumbled response. Clearly, Tiger was still miffed.

_"Let's see . . . Well, just recently I finished the abridged works of Sir Percival Blanchefleur who set the groundwork of poetic thesis now used in proper North American academic circles. His life was particularly noteworthy in the sense that, while his origins were French, he moved to Russia and became an associate of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, the Mad Monk,__which accounted for some thrilling prose in relation to religious doctrine-"_

The clear sound of snoring started coming from Kotetsu's comm.

_"Old Man! Are you sleeping again?"_

_"Hn? Oh, not anymore . . . Damn, Bunny, that's gotta be the most boring thing I've ever heard."_

_"Really. I'm interested to hear what fascinating piece of literature you last read."_

_"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."_

The silence that followed that admission was predictable. It lasted for about four seconds before Barnaby snapped, _"If you're not going to take this seriously-"_

_"Oh, hey, it wasn't my choice! It was a project at my daughter's school where the student and one of the parents had to choose a book together, read it, and then each write a review. It was either the Potter kid or the book about the sparkly vampires."_

_"You couldn't have offered an alternative?"_

_"Well, I could have but I really doubt trying to pass off Penthouse Forum letters as a book to my nine year-old little girl would have gone over very well,_" Tiger drawled. In the control room Agnes arched one eyebrow, Mary blushed, and Cain put his face in his hands trying to contain his laughter.

"_You__'re disgusting,"_ Barnaby sniffed.

"_I'm __a single guy, what the hell do you want from me? Anyway, Kaede, that's my daughter, did a really good job on her review. She got an A plus, the best mark in the class."_

"_And you?"_

Tiger deflected the question with; _"Does it really matter?"_

"_It does now. What did you get for a grade__?"_

There was a sigh, followed by a mumbled, _"D minus."_

Barnaby moaned.

"_In my defense, I wrote the stupid thing in a hurry_," Tiger pressed on. "_And I didn't run it through a spell check, either. I figure what really sank me was when I called __Voldemort a BAMF."_

"_What is that? Some kind of text speak?"_

"_Yeah. It stands for Bad Ass Mother Fu-" _

Agnes cut in again. "Alright, Tiger, watch the language."

"_Sumimasen__ Agnes-san,"_ the Hero apologized, this time he actually sounded sincere. _"Anyway, the worst part of it was that my kid had to read my review in front of her entire class. She didn't speak to me for four days afterward."_

"_I don't blame her."_

"_Me neither."_ For the first time, they actually agreed on something. "_Anyway, it's my turn. What do you like to drink?"_

"_Are you referring to alcohol?"_

"_Is there anything else?"_

"_I enjoy a nice Romane Conti on occasion. I have a little collection of assorted wines and __champagnes __that I'm quite proud of. I don't see their value in terms of money, although a few are very expensive, but I treasure them because of their rarity."_

On the monitor, Tiger visibly rolled his eyes in disgust. _"In other words, you don't drink 'em."_

"_No. Like I said, they're cherished collectables."_

"_Y'know __Barnaby, anyone listening to you for the last ten minutes would think that you're the old fuddy-duddy between the pair of us. You know that?"_

"_I'm educated. I have interests,"_ Barnaby said coolly.

"_No. You're a snob and I'm telling you it__'s getting old real fast."_

"_I imagine being old is a subject you know more about than I do."_

"Oh, here we go again," Mary was almost whining.

For a change, Tiger wasn't baited by the obvious scorn_. "Age doesn't have anything to do with this. My interests are simple. My kid keeps me young. And I try not to worry about too much if I can help it. You, you're old way beyond your years. It's spooky how serious you try to be."_

"'_Try to be'?" _

"_Yeah, because it's all just an act. And guess what? I'm not buying it anymore. So you go right ahead and use your big fancy words, and bore me with your snotty interests, and do whatever you want to make me feel small just to pump yourself up. I'm just the sidekick here, right? Show me how the leader of this team should act. I'm curious."_ With that, he folded his arms and stared expectantly up at Barnaby, waiting for the younger man's reaction.

"Man, it's a shame that we're not broadcasting this," Cain said. The majority of viewers thought that Wild Tiger was slow-witted because of his ungraceful and old-fashioned approach to crime fighting. While he wasn't particularly educated, he possessed an enormous amount of heart and tended to let his feelings get in the way of logic. It was just his poor luck that those selfless traits didn't translate well in front of a camera.

An odd look had crossed Agnes' face as she listened to Tiger's deep voice. It was clear that she hadn't expected anything remotely resembling sense to come from the older Hero. Like the public, she had already formed her own biased conclusions where Kotetsu was concerned. She was beginning to understand why Cain, who had worked in the control room for years, was such a fan of Tiger's. "You're taping this dialogue, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Keep it up. You never know when it might become useful." She was thinking along the lines of a televised blooper reel, or something equally exploitive that might garner ratings during the off-season. Agnes was a woman who liked to stay several steps ahead.

Barnaby had taken to staring at his partner with an odd, contemplative look on his face. Like someone who had lifted a rock and found, not some loathsome thing, but some sort of rare treasure instead. He kept it up for so long that Tiger started fidgeting and self-consciously wiped at his upper lip. _"What? Have I got a booger hanging from my nose or something?"_

Barnaby finally said, _"All right. I get your point. I should set a better example. Believe me when I say that the irony of that statement isn't lost on me."_

"_There you go again-"_

"_I can't help it. This is how I've always behaved. It's not an act."_

Tiger's shoulders slumped in defeat. _". . . Great. Maybe it might be easier if I just slapped a pair of pointy ears on you and pretended you were a Vulcan."_

"_A what?"_

"_What do you mean, 'what'? A Vulcan. You know, from Star Trek?"_

"_I don't know what that is. I don't watch Science Fiction."_

Barnaby had apparently committed some sort of extreme blasphemy in Tiger's mind. Engaging his private comm, he suddenly started screaming into the control room: _"That's IT! What the hell is going on with that hostage situation, Agnes? If I have to listen to this baka one more minute-!"_ The rest of the dialogue lapsed into frenzied Japanese, Tiger's native language.

Struggling to keep his voice even, Cain told him, "Calm down, Tiger. We almost have all the details hammered out. It won't be too much longer."

The barrage cut off in mid sentence, followed by a hopeful, _"You promise?"_

Cain rolled an eye over to his superior who seemed to be busy reading some details on her BlackBerry and apparently ignoring the conversation. He wasn't fooled. "We're doing everything that we can to hurry things up. That's all I can say."

"_Shimatta,"_ was the mumbled response before Tiger looked over at Barnaby again. _"Just what type of TV shows _do_ you watch?" _he asked in a desultory tone.

"_OBC News mostly. I like to keep up with current events. We do work for the Justice Bureau, after all."_

"_That only counts when we're on the clock. Our spare time is our own business. Don't you do anything for fun?"_

"_Conducting research into crime activities is a passion of mine. That's why I got into this business. Even if I wasn't a NEXT, I would have been in law enforcement in one capacity or another. __All I want to do is make things better for this city. In fact when I was just eighteen I said to myself-"_

"_. . . __Baka yatte'n ja nee yo __. . . kusotare . . ."_ Tiger was muttering under his breath while Barnaby's speech droned on.

Agnes turned to Cain in confusion. "What's he saying?"

"Uh, I think he's swearing, ma'am," the director managed to say with a straight face. When he listened a little longer and heard, "_Fukkare!_" he nodded. "Oh yeah, he's definitely letting 'em fly."

Agnes was on the mike again. "I won't accept cursing on my show regardless of the language, Tiger. Watch yourself."

Tiger grumbled under his breath and punched the side of Barnaby's motorcycle in frustration.

It dawned on Barnaby that his partner wasn't amused by his speech._ "What's your problem now?"_

"_Your adoring fans might buy that crap but I've seen you off duty, Barnaby. The minute the cameras are gone and you're out of costume, you don't give a damn about anybody but yourself. You see a guy begging in the street, you pass him a sneer and walk by; I've seen you do it_. _Remember that cat in the tree?"_

"_Oh for-! Are you still going on about that stupid cat?"_

"_The girl asked you for help getting it down and you told her you were allergic to cats and wouldn't do it. That kid was in tears and you were just going to walk away from her."_

"_I remember that day, Old Man. You climbed up all the way up to where the silly thing was stuck and it attacked you when you grabbed it. The both of you ended up falling. I'm still not sure if that car you landed on was a good thing or not."_

"_Still counts as a rescue," _Tiger muttered.

"_You could have broken your neck. As it was,__ you were bitten twice and had to have a tetanus shot. Not to mention you had to pay for the damages to the car. Was it worth all that just for a cat?"_

Tiger offered his partner an indifferent shrug._ "The girl was smiling when she got it back. She said thanks. That's all that mattered. That's all that _should_ matter. Not fame or points or interviews or stupid documentaries. We're Heroes. We're supposed to help people whether we're in costume or not."_

Barnaby stared at him in exasperation. He wasn't the only one.

Agnes pulled her eyes from her precious PDA and considered Tiger for a long moment, her lips pursed in thought. On the one hand, the Asian was giving her a deliberate slur of what he thought of all of the attention Barnaby was getting. On the other hand he had a valid point. Television was all about creating larger than life characters and HeroTV exploited that notion even further. As the new star, Barnaby reveled in all of the attention he was receiving and played perfectly to the cameras, saying everything that the people wanted to hear. The young Hero was capturing all of the attention while poor old Tiger plodded along in the background, largely ignored. Charisma translated well into ratings; heart less so, and it was becoming clear listening to the two as they bickered just who had the integrity. She sighed and made a notation in her file that perhaps Tiger was overdue for some attention. That cat story, while laughable, made for good TV. Perhaps she could use it in some way.

"_I'm not going to argue with you about morality, Old Man,"_ Barnaby said at last, his voice carefully neutral. _"If you want to jeopardize your health and safety on foolish ventures there's not a lot I can do about it. Besides, if you don't like how things are being handled you have the option under contract-"_

"_I know what my contract says."_

"_You can quit if you want."_

"_Yeah, yeah, I know. I hear it from Lloyds practically every day."_ Alexander Lloyds was their corporate liaison and media handler. He didn't particularly appreciate being saddled with Tiger and treated him with clear disdain.

"_I'm just saying you have that option."_

"_You'd like that, wouldn't you? Well screw you, Bunny, I'm not going anywhere."_

Barnaby's nostrils flared in anger and he looked away to consider the view. The sun had risen and the megacity of SternBild was starting to come to life in a cacophony of honking horns, shouts, and music. Several streets over, a building was barricaded by police cars. The collection agency looked deserted, but everyone was acting on a call to 911 just was still being traced to see if the hostage-taking was genuine. They had only been waiting for twenty minutes but it seemed like hours. _"I don't want you to quit,"_ Barnaby said at last. _"You have your uses."_

"_Gee thanks,"_ Tiger said with obvious scorn.

"_You're slow and uncoordinated and you don't follow proper procedure-"_

"_If this is your way of buttering me up you really suck at it__!_"

In the control room, Cain shook his head in dismay. Mary sighed and looked over at Agnes again. Their superior was still staring at her phone. The information she was getting back seemed to indicate that the hostage taking thing was a hoax but hadn't been verified yet. She was torn between waiting things out or excusing the two Heroes before their working relationship became irreparably damaged. She decided to give the police a few more minutes. As well as the two men.

"_I'm not finished. I'm just saying you have flaws. I'll admit that I have flaws, too."_

Tiger feigned an incredulous gasp.

Barnaby ignored him. _"I was a loner before we were forced to team up, just as you were. I'm not a people person, I don't have friends, and that's suited me just fine . . . up until now. Our partnership has forced me to realize that I have to make certain concessions in order for us to work successfully."_

"Holy cow," Cain remarked in surprise. "I think that Barnaby just had an epiphany."

"Hallelujah!" Mary added, raising her arms to the ceiling.

Agnes betrayed a faint smile.

On Kotetsu's end there was only stunned silence.

"_Old Man! Did you hear me?"_

"_Bunny . . . that-that was absolutely beautiful."_ It sounded like Tiger was crying. It was impossible to tell if he was kidding or genuinely moved by Barnaby's words because, among his many faults, the Asian was also overly emotional.

"_You're impossible_," Barnaby snorted.

"_No, I'm being serious! Thanks for telling me that."_

"_You're really not being sarcastic?" _There was a wary tone to Barnaby's voice.

"_No,__ man, I really mean it."_

"_Then . . . you're welcome, I guess. If it's that important to you." _The younger man sounded extremely uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was taking. He decided to get it back on its original track. _"We've talked enough about me. What do you do when you're not working?"_

"_When I'm not dealing with my kid, I meet up with Antonio at the Heroes Bar some nights. Sometimes Nathan's there. It's __a pretty laid back place. Live bands play there all the time. Mostly we drink, talk, and play pool."_

"_Billiards?"_ Barnaby asked with polite interest.

"_That too. __Eight ball, nine ball, one pocket, bank pool. Why? You play?"_

"_I used to be junior champ at college."_

"_Yeah? I used to hustle people for money. People just like you, actually." _He released an amused snort.

Barnaby was back to scowling at him._ "What were you? Some sort of juvenile delinquent?"_

There was a long pause as Tiger apparently thought of what to say. The response wasn't particularly encouraging. "_I don't have a record. Let's just leave it at that, ne?"_

"_Unbelievable,"_ Barnaby marveled.

"_Anyway, you should come by some night. It'd be refreshing to be able to beat your ass at something for a change."_

"_I might just take you up on that. Of course, if anyone's going to lose it'll be you."_

Anyone else would have probably argued the point but that wasn't Tiger's nature. He simply laughed it off.

"_What kind of music__ is played there?"_

"_Soft rock, mostly. I used to be a head banger when I was-"_ he coughed, "-_your age but now I like the softer stuff; Joy Joy Johnson, The Templates, CCR. When I'm really stressed Bob Marley mellows me out." _There was a pause and Tiger's voice dropped a note when he added,_ "I've been listening to him a lot lately."_

The innuendo went ignored by Barnaby._ "I don't listen to modern music. I love the opera."_

"_Oi, why am I not surprised?"_

"_I own a private booth at the SternBild Orchestrate Theatre and try to go there for performances at least two times a month. Three nights ago, I saw Levessivre Altiste perform __Véronique for__ the first time, accompanied by the ballet troupe from Sweden -"_

"_Did you go alone?"_

"_I- What?"_

"_It's a simple question, Bunny. Do you ever take a date along?"_

"_. . . On occasion."_

"_Yeah?" _Tiger visibly perked up._ "You got some sweet babe waiting on the sidelines for some hot bunny love, do you?"_

Barnaby's voice was ice cold when he responded with:_ "No, I take my Aunt Samantha."_

For some reason this struck Tiger as deliriously funny and he brayed laughter for the next few minutes. It was contagious because even in the control room everyone was smiling, even Agnes, although she tried to hide it. Barnaby's sexual orientation was still something of a mystery to everyone but this exchange certainly hadn't portrayed the younger man in a favorable light. It was cemented when Tiger was heard to snicker, _". . . Aw crap, I owe Nathan twenty bucks!"_

"_I fail to see any humor in what I've just said,"_ Barnaby objected.

"_Yeah, I don't doubt it. Never mind. Nothing wrong with opera. Men in tights, it's all good-" _he was back to laughing again.

"_Well, it's far more refined than that music you listen to, I'm sure. I recognize the name of that Marley fellow. He's associated with drugs!"_

"_Well, he was busted at the airport for his private stash once. That was over thirty years ago. After he died, the man became a musical icon. What you're probably thinking about is how the news media likes to associate his music as being listened to only by people who smoke pot."_

"_And that doesn't include you, right?"_

Tiger didn't answer.

Everyone in the control room suddenly froze in place.

"_Old Man__?"_

_"__. . ."_

_"Tiger!"_

"_Let's just say I'm looking forward to getting __my hands on a legal prescription when my glaucoma kicks in which, according to you, should be happening just about any day now_," Tiger finally said_._

Cain leaned back in his chair and burst out laughing. He just couldn't help it. He held his stomach and brayed laughter even while Agnes and Mary shot him disapproving glances. Mercifully, Agnes' BlackBerry picked that second to buzz and all thoughts of drug-testing immediately left her mind when she read the display. She snapped her fingers at Cain to get back to work (he was still snickering) and motioned at Mary to cut to live feed on her signal. Leaning over to the mike, she said her trademark, "Bonjour, Heroes," and began barking orders. "We have confirmation of a hostage taking. Barnaby and Tiger I want you to move in and enter the roof entrance. Fire Emblem, I want you to-"

Things at HeroTV resumed their normal chaotic routine as the cameras rolled, the Heroes did their thing, and the citizens of SternBild watched it live as it happened. All in all, it was a typical show with higher than average ratings and that always left Agnes in a good mood. She let everyone have the rest of the afternoon off.

Cain was waiting for Tiger when the Hero left the locker room later on that morning. "Man, you look tired, Kotetsu."

The man blinked at him dully for a few seconds, trying to place a name to the face, and perked up a bit when he finally recognized him. "Hi Cain. Hope I didn't make too much of an ass out of myself on the show this morning."

"Are you kidding? You did real good. You talked the guy out of giving up his gun and letting the hostages go. Got four hundred points for the rescue! Sucks that Barnaby got the arrest points, though."

Kotetsu shrugged. "Meh. He's more interested in those anyway."

The director eyed him shrewdly for a moment. "You let him get the credit on purpose, didn't you?"

Staring at him out from beneath the brim of his trademark hat, Kotetsu winked. "Sometimes the bunny needs a carrot to make him stop nibbling my ankles." Coming from Tiger it sounded like some sage, Asian wisdom until the two men looked at one another and then burst out laughing.

"Listen, where you headed off to right now?" Cain asked when the moment passed.

"Home. I'm sneaking out early. Why?"

"Well, a friend and I are heading up to the roof-" he reached into his breast pocket and flashed a blunt. "And we thought you might like to join us."

Kotetsu's smile broadened and an amazing thing happened when his amber eyes lit up; it immediately dropped years from his face. At that moment he didn't look any older than Barnaby. He gestured grandly at the door, "After you," and followed Cain into the stairwell.

The entire walk up to the roof was routinely interjected with conversation and laughter, which was just what Cain figured Kotetsu needed after being stuck with Barnaby for the morning. He was pleased to see that he was right. Tiger was a genuinely good guy and didn't need to be saddled with his partner's constant negativity. Agnes said the conflict made for good television but Cain could have told her (if she'd listen) that it can go wrong in a heartbeat. He had known that Kotetsu was stressed this morning. The conversation- as funny as it was- had been out of character for him and it was happening more and more often. Cain was going to do his damnest to make sure that the Hero knew he had someone he could turn to if things turned ugly.

After all, that's what friends were for.

* * *

><p>~end.<p> 


End file.
